Southcorp appoints Jackson as deputy chair

Page Tools

Change continues to roll through Southcorp, with the appointment of Qantas chairwoman Margaret Jackson to the board as deputy chairwoman.

Ms Jackson fills the board vacancy created by the resignation of Tom Burnet as the head of its underperforming Americas operations. He was the executive last year touted as a future chief executive of Australia's biggest wine company.

The latest ACNielsen figures from the US, the market where Southcorp earns most of its money, show a slight improvement in the performance of its wine brands, driven mostly by its Lindemans label, but they continue to lag the rest of the Australian category.

With her move to the company behind such brands as Penfolds and Rosemount, Ms Jackson will step down from the board of John Fairfax Holdings, publisher of The Sydney Morning Herald, at the end of August. She will also retire as chairwoman of the Methodist Ladies' College board.

Ms Jackson, who joins Southcorp's board on August 23, will remain a director of ANZ and Billabong International and retain membership of the Business Council of Australia chairman's panel.

AdvertisementAdvertisement

The announcement of her appointment coincided with that of Mr Burnet's resignation as a director and as president and chief executive officer of Southcorp Wines, the Americas.

He was recruited less than two years ago by chief executive John Ballard's predecessor, Keith Lambert, who was ousted early last year.

But Southcorp yesterday denied Mr Burnet had been pushed out, with earnings in the US lower than management expectations.

Mr Ballard said Mr Burnet was leaving because his family wanted to leave California.

He said the search for a replacement was well under way, with the company narrowing it down to a short-list but Mr Burnet needed to leave before the appointment was made.

"Several months ago, Tom expressed to me the strong desire of his family to relocate from California, the home base of our American operation, which would necessitate him stepping down from his position with Southcorp," Mr Ballard said.

"Whilst we had hoped Tom could stay until after the appointment of the new CEO for the Americas, we accept that his personal circumstances require him to leave at this juncture."

ACNielsen data for the 13 weeks to July 3 showed that sales of Southcorp's wine brands were up 2.5 per cent in value and 4 per cent in volume.

The growth, however, was being fuelled by its Lindemans division while Rosemount continued to struggle.